Book picks similar to
Buzz Books 2020: Spring/Summer by Publishers Lunch
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The Clockwork Dynasty
Daniel H. Wilson - 2017
With her career and her life at stake, June Stefanov will ally with a remarkable traveler who exposes her to a reality she never imagined, as they embark on an around-the-world adventure and discover breathtaking secrets of the past...Russia, 1725: In the depths of the Kremlin, the tsar's loyal mechanician brings to life two astonishingly humanlike mechanical beings. Peter and Elena are a brother and sister fallen out of time, possessed with uncanny power, and destined to serve great empires. Struggling to blend into pre-Victorian society, they are pulled into a legendary war that has raged for centuries.The Clockwork Dynasty interweaves past and present, exploring a race of beings designed to live by ironclad principles, yet constantly searching for meaning. As June plunges deeper into their world, her choices will ultimately determine their survival or extermination.
Bring Her Home
David Bell - 2017
Just a year and a half after the tragic death of his wife, Bill Price's fifteen-year-old daughter, Summer, and her best friend, Haley, disappear. Days later, the girls are found in a city park. Haley is dead at the scene, while Summer is left beaten beyond recognition and clinging to life.As Bill holds vigil over Summer's bandaged body, the only sound the unconscious girl can make is one cryptic and chilling word: No. And the more time Bill spends with Summer, the more he wonders what happened to her. Or if the injured girl in the hospital bed is really his daughter at all.When troubling new questions about Summer's life surface, Bill is not prepared for the aftershocks. He'll soon discover that both the living and the dead have secrets. And that searching for the truth will tear open old wounds that pierce straight to the heart of his family... READERS GUIDE INCLUDED
Never Sleep Alone
Alex Schiller - 2014
Alex Schiller doles out hilarious yet profoundly wise dating advice in her new sex and dating manual, which will transform you into an Exceptional Individual capable of seducing everyone you meet.“My name is Dr. Alex Schiller and I Never Sleep Alone. Unless I want to. Man or woman, rich or poor, teenage or elderly—NSA will transform YOU into The One that everyone wants…” For the past three years in New York City, Dr. Alex (not a real doctor) has been performing her hit comedy and dating show “Never Sleep Alone” to sold out audiences, helping thousands of people from all over the world transform themselves and fulfill their sociosexual desires. Now, with her signature blend of outrageous humor and profound wisdom, the celebrated guru has created an interactive sex and dating guide that takes you on a fantastic journey of exciting new adventures, self-discovery, and transformation. With her nine NSA Principles, her compulsively quotable NSA Truths, and her interactive NSA Challenges, Dr. Alex inspires us all to laugh at ourselves, to make real human connections, and, most importantly, to Never Sleep Alone. Unless we want to.
Hooked: When Addiction Hits Home
Chloe Shantz-Hilkes - 2012
This collection of ten true stories is based on interviews with people who, in their youth, lived with an addicted parent or sibling. The subjects speak honestly about what it was like to grow up with a family member addicted to alcohol, drugs, food, pills, or gambling. While describing how they managed to cope, interviewees explore the full range of situations and emotions they experienced—from denial, anger, and confusion to acceptance and forgiveness. Their maturity, sensitivity, and even their sense of humor will give teens going through similar situations the important realization that there are many ways to break free from the chains of others’ addictions.
The Namarielle (Chronicles of Lashai Book 1)
Julien Jamar - 2018
“So, how does a shepherd girl find herself in the Forest of Fondair, heading to the Kiatri to lead a crusade against the Fontre?” Cassai had untied her braid and was unraveling it. “Not a crusade, a war. Lashai belongs to us. We were free under the Namarielle. The land flourished, and the people had plenty. The Fontre took everything: our herds, our crops, our money, they even burned down our churches. Why would they do that?” Her gaze lingered on the darkness between the trees, and Hollis assumed this was a rhetorical question. "So, we’re going to fight them; our small band of Keepers and anyone else we can find to join us will fight for our Lashai. And if no one else joins, I’ll fight them alone. I just can’t live as their slave. I won’t."
The Jane Austen Society
Natalie Jenner - 2020
Now it's home to a few distant relatives and their diminishing estate. With the last bit of Austen's legacy threatened, a group of disparate individuals come together to preserve both Jane Austen's home and her legacy. These people—a laborer, a young widow, the local doctor, and a movie star, among others—could not be more different and yet they are united in their love for the works and words of Austen. As each of them endures their own quiet struggle with loss and trauma, some from the recent war, others from more distant tragedies, they rally together to create the Jane Austen Society.
Elementary: 4 Mysteries from the Case Files of Sherlock Holmes
William Todd - 2020
Watson, has finally decided to publish: A wealthy businessman is found bludgeoned to death in his locked and guarded hotel room; Poison has mysteriously finds its way into the sacramental wine at a Mass in a rural village with deadly consequences; An alchemist is found shot to death after having seemingly turned lead into gold; And finally, an irritatingly unsuccessful suit salesman plummets to his death from one of the steepest cliffs in England...only he didn't jump.
Real Easy
Marie RutkoskiMarie Rutkoski - 2022
She’s not used to mixing work and friendship―after all, between her jealous boyfriend and his young daughter, she has enough on her plate. But the newest dancer is so clueless that Samantha feels compelled to help her learn the hustle and drama of the club: how to sweet-talk the boss, fit in with the other women, and make good money. One night, when the new girl needs a ride home, Samantha agrees to drive: a simple decision that turns deadly.Georgia, another dancer drawn into the ensuing murder and missing person investigation, gathers information for Holly, a grieving detective determined to solve the case. Georgia just wants to help, but her involvement makes her a target. As Holly and Georgia round up their suspects, the story’s point of view shifts between dancers, detectives, children, club patrons―and the killer.Drawing on her experience as a former dancer, Marie Rutkoski immerses us in the captivating world of the club, which comes alive with complicated people trying their best to protect themselves and those they love. Character-driven and masterfully plotted, Real Easy gets to the heart of the timeless question: How do women live their lives knowing that men can hurt them?
Instamom
Chantel Guertin - 2021
. .It’s the influencer’s golden rule: know your niche. Kit Kidding has found hers on Instagram, where she gets paid to promote brands and share expertly curated posts about her fun, fabulous, child-free life. Kit likes kids just fine, but she passionately believes that women who choose not to become mothers shouldn’t have to face guilt. Or judgement. Or really hot chefs who turn out to be single dads. Will MacGregor is aggravating, sexy, persistent, averse to social media, and definitely a bad idea. As soon as Kit learns his parenting status, she vows to put their scorching one-night stand behind her and move on. But Will and Kit are thrown together on an Instagram campaign, and the more time she spends with him—and his whip-smart, eight-year-old daughter, Addie—the more difficult it is to stay away, much less sustain what Will so cleverly calls her “Resting Beach Face.” Kit’s picture-perfect career path is suddenly clashing with the possibility of a different future—messy, complicated, and real. Which life does she truly want? Will she have to re-invent herself? And will love still be waiting by the time she figures it out?
Talisman Of El
Alecia Stone - 2012
7 billion.Others ... unknown.When 14-year-old Charlie Blake wakes up sweating and gasping for air in the middle of the night, he knows it is happening again. This time he witnesses a brutal murder. He's afraid to tell anyone. No one would believe him ... because it was a dream. Just like the one he had four years ago - the day before his dad died.Charlie doesn't know why this is happening. He would give anything to have an ordinary life. The problem: he doesn't belong in the world he knows as home.He belongs with the others.
Daughter of Sand and Stone
Libbie Hawker - 2015
She won’t submit to a lifetime of subservience. When her father dies, she sets out on her own, pursuing the power she believes to be her birthright, dreaming of the Roman Empire’s downfall and her ascendance to the throne.Defying her family, Zenobia arranges her own marriage to the most influential man in the city of Palmyra. But their union is anything but peaceful—his other wife begrudges the marriage and the birth of Zenobia’s son, and Zenobia finds herself ever more drawn to her guardsman, Zabdas. As war breaks out, she’s faced with terrible choices.From the decadent halls of Rome to the golden sands of Egypt, Zenobia fights for power, for love, and for her son. But will her hubris draw the wrath of the gods? Will she learn a “woman’s place,” or can she finally stake her claim as Empress of the East?
Escape from Berlin
Irene N. Watts - 2013
First there was the burning of the neighborhood shops. Then her father, a bookseller, must leave the family and go into hiding. No longer allowed to go to school or even sit in a café, Marianne's only comfort is her beloved mother. Remember Me - Young Marianne is one of the lucky ones. She has escaped on the first Kindertransport organized to take Jewish children out of Germany to safety in Britain. At first Marianne is desperate. Marianne speaks little English and is made to feel unwelcomed in her sponsor's home and, most of all, she misses her mother terribly. As the months pass, she realizes that she cannot control the circumstances around her. She must rely on herself if she is to survive. Finding Sophie - Sophie Mandel was only seven years old when she arrived in London on the first Kindertransport from Germany. She has grown up with a friend of her parents, a woman she calls Aunt Em, and despite the war and its deprivations, she has made a good life for herself in England with her foster mother. She has even stopped thinking about the parents she left behind. Now the war is over, and fourteen-year-old Sophie is faced with a terrible dilemma. Where does she belong?
The House on Seventh Street
Karen Vorbeck Williams - 2015
Estrangement, nostalgia, old wounds, and a rekindled love pull her in every direction. Then she finds a diamond ring hidden among her childhood marbles – and suddenly nothing in that grand old Edwardian house is what it seems. She would do well to let it all go to the estate sale and move on. As she delves deeper into her family’s past, Winna makes a dangerous discovery: the house on Seventh Street is hiding an 80-year-old secret – and someone is desperate to keep things buried.Genre: MIXED: Literary Fiction/Womens' Fiction/Psychological Thriller
Fibromyalgia: A Guide to Understanding the Journey
Shelly Bolton - 2013
HELP, I'M FALLING APART!!This quick read is informative and entertaining, with personal stories and documented research.
Earth & Sky
Megan Crewe - 2014
But despite the panic attacks tormenting her, nothing ever happens, and Sky’s beginning to think she’s crazy. Then she meets a mysterious, otherworldly boy named Win and discovers the shocking truth her premonitions have tapped into: our world no longer belongs to us. For thousands of years, Earth has been at the mercy of alien scientists who care nothing for its inhabitants and are using us as the unwitting subjects of their time-manipulating experiments. Win belongs to a rebel faction seeking to put a stop to it, and he needs Skylar’s help--but with each shift in the past, the very fabric of reality is unraveling, and soon there may be no Earth left to save.